As Far As Oxnard
by Saul Good
Summary: Xander meets old friends he's never known. A/N: This a side project while I work on my main fic. Don't expect regular updates.


Oxnard was dusty and stupid Xander Harris had decided. The same went for this car. He kicked the broke down thing that might have once been his ticket to Beat Generation enlightenment. Smoke erupted from the hood like an angry volcano god. Things were looking less On the Road and more Broke Down On The Side of the Road. The summer sun was low and the highway was bare. The slowly setting sun would normal be cause for alarm to him, but he was far enough from Sunnydale that he wasn't scared of walking off alone into the coming night. He had passed a diner a few miles back and there was enough in the travel budget to call for a tow and get his old rust machine running again.

The walk was longer than he liked. His jeans and Spider-Man t-shirt afforded him little protection from the elements and his preferable walking distance was the couch to the television. This was much farther than that. He was almost used to treks like this though, after years of cavern crawling with The Slayer and running for his life alongside friends, walking down a highway didn't seem that bad really. Sometimes Xander felt like all he ever really did was run away, though he had yet to decide if that was really a bad thing.

The teenager approached the diner as the moon sat high into the night. The bright fluorescent lighting and the honky-tonk blaring from a jukebox could be heard even before nearing the door. The hustle and bustle of the eatery was almost jarring and Xander hesitated a moment before entering. Barely twelve hours into his man-making road trip and the world was already taking a hard swing at him. He took a tentative step and opened the door to the diner. At least there wasn't anyone here to see him at yet another low point of his life. Upon entering a bell rung over head and the young man received the last thing he had expected in the establishment, a warm and loud greeting.

"Alexander Lavelle Harris!" cried a jovial voice from the row of stools in front of the counter. Xander saw a trio of heads perking up, two of which, a sandy haired man and a red headed woman gave each other surprised looks. The final head was the owner of the voice, and what a head it was. His hair curled impossibly over his forehead and his chin was pronounced, even more so with the giant smile over his face. He was tall and lanky, there was an energy exuding from him that almost caused him to vibrate with positivity.

The similar hiking clothes that the man and the woman wore marked them a couple, Xander assumed. The happy man dressed in a fashion one Rupert Giles would absolutely approve of. His tweed jacket over a light-blue button down, slacks a bow-tie ensemble gave Xander sudden memories of so much time poring over dusty tomes.

"How have you been, old chap? Hellmouths still givin' you the ol' one two, eh?" His accent was British and his tone was friendly and knowing. He laughed and pantomimed throwing punches as he spoke, which made Xander put up his own fists in reflex. This only caused the Englishman to laugh again.

"There's the Sunnydale spirit!" He announced, gaining the attention of waitress's and patrons. He also seemed to be the sole person with any sense of familiarity. "Something's different though." He gave a quick once over to the still speechless teen. "Have you done something to your hair?"

The couple got up and stood besides the doctor. The sandy haired man, who sported a proud nose, tried explaining the tall man down. "Doctor, this guy does not look like Xander Harris" His accent matched the happy man's.

"Yeah, Xander's way bigger and meaner and…" She hesitated with the last description. "and you know!" the redhead offered, a Scottish brogue to her voice. She was slim and pretty, freckles dotted her face and skin.

"What?" was all Xander could produce. His total confusion him robbed him of his speech.

"No, no, no! Look!" The tall man squirreled his way around the teenager and covered his left eye with a hand. "See? Xander!" The couple simultaneously went "Ooh" in recognition.

Xander jumped regaining some coherence. He clawed away the hand over his face and stood away from the trio. "Hey crazy people, I don't know how it works over the pond but you don't just touch a stranger's face."

"You people starting trouble here?" demanded a burly fry cook from within the kitchen.

"No, no! We're old chums!" The lanky man declared putting his arm around Xander's shoulders his smile plastered on his face. "We just haven't met yet." he explained. The fry cook gave him a threatening look. The couple were the only ones who seemed apologetic. Xander deftly escaped the arm draped over him and did his best to put space between himself and the weirdos from the U.K. The tall man's intense friendliness continued unabated.

"Well go on then, have a seat!" He ushered the teen onto a stool besides his own. "Order what you like, it's on me." The couple made a face as they sat down at on right of Xander. "Well, they'll take care of the money part." The skinny man said shooting the couple behind him a thumb and took the stool to the left. Xander allowed himself to be settled in, his tired body sank into the plush chair. It was a long walk and the teen's stomach registered the free food being offered.

"Well at least you're generous." He flipped open the menu on the counter before him, though indignantly.

"Then dinner for a conversation! I'm the Doctor and these are The Ponds." The skinny man declared hurriedly. The redhead besides him gave a look to the man on her other side, he simply shrugged. "But that's not important, what's important is you're probably on your road trip by now! I promised you some old faces, didn't I?" The Doctor announced enthusiastically to the couple, who nodded between forkfuls. Xander decided on country friend steak and eggs with a coke only half listening .

"Yeah, that's what I told the gang." He conceded carefully, as he eagerly received his soda and started sipping it through a straw. They didn't seem outright evil or dangerous yet, so he'd play it cool for a while to figure out who these people were. The redhead leaned in low towards Xander and spoke in a conspiratorial tone.

"Was Faith really your first time?" the teenager spit his soda all over the counter. Playing it cool, check.

"I swear to god, if you people keep messing around I'm gonna throw your asses outta here!" the large fry cook threatened the four embarrassed people, even The Doctor looked sheepish.

"Americans, eh?" he said with a wide eyed but amused warning on his face as he and the other three took napkins and tried to lessen the mess.

"Well, was she?" the redhead pressed. Xander was besides himself, his mind could only produce one coherent thought.

"Who the hell are you people?"

"Told you, we're chums, allies, compatriots. And you'll say those exact same words to me the first time I met you." The Doctor quickly explained.

"But I never said that." Xander quickly pointed out.

"No, this is the first time you meet us." The male Pond corrected.

"The first time we met you will be the second time you meet us." the female Pond supplied.

"None of that made any sense." Xander replied perplexed, he couldn't follow their words at all.

"Doesn't matter!" The Doctor interjected giving the teen a roguish grin. "What I want to know is how you faced down Angelus and made him back down."

"You can't know that." Xander gave the bow-tie clad man and unbelieving look. He never even mentioned what happened when Angelus appeared at the hospital when Buffy had gotten sick to anyone. The details these people knew staggard Xander's thoughts. "How could you know that?"

"You told us." The Doctor replied evenly. Xander tensed. "You told us because you trust us. Will trust us." he corrected. Xander looked like he was going to make a break for it. These people were insane and knew too many things that they clearly should not know, Xander decided. The Ponds read his body language and spoke to each other solely with looks. It seemed The Doctor noticed too and spoke more urgently.

"Alexander Harris, you are the bravest man I have ever encountered. One of the few everyday average men in this universe that can go toe to toe with evil. Actual heartbreaking, blood drinking evil." The graveness of his tone sent shivers down Xander's neck. A nod was given to the sandy haired man by The Doctor. "Men like that are hard to come by and you'd be lucky to have him on your side." A pause and Xander let out a breath he did not know he was holding.

"Which is what we are by the way." The Doctor continued. "On your side." Xander saw sincerity in those eyes, heard it in the spoken words. They stayed quiet until the male Pond broke it.

"Where were you planning to go?" Xander took a moment longer before answering.

"L.A., maybe meet up with Cordy. Then further down south, see Mexico." He was surprised at the ease of speaking, but he made his decision.

"You should see Utah, it's really pretty." the redheaded Pond suggested. Xander only nodded in quiet contemplation. He did not feel threatened after The Doctor's words. Maybe a charm spell, he mused. Just a quick bite to eat while he chats up crazy people and one that might be something else. The food came and he gave a polite nod to the waitress, who gave him a baleful look in return. He was too embarrassed to ask for another soda.


End file.
